Back to the Primitive

Hail to the Old School!

Hey Metalheads and members of the Horns Up Rocks community, are you ready to take a trip back to the late 70’s and early 80’s in Great Britain? We are going back to the primitive to check out some of the most unknown albums of the era, which eventually lead to Thrash, Power, Death, Doom and Black Metal. All this phenomenal albums were written by guys that may have been better known if they had better management. From the "New Wave of British Heavy Metal", only four bands were commercially successful during this era: Iron Maiden, Saxon, Def Leppard, yeah their first two albums don’t suck, and Venom.

The first band I’m talking about is Diamond Head, who are the pride of Newcastle and a band well known by fans of Metallica and Megadeth. Lightning to the Nations (also known as The White Album)is considered their best album. Their following album titled "Borrowed Time", is also an underrated classic that is worth to be listened to and purchased. It has a different arrangement of "Am I Evil" and the killer tune "Trick or Treat".



The next band up is Samson. The band that opened the doors of the world for Bruce Dickinson, who was known as Bruce Bruce between 1979 to 1981. Samson was the baby of guitarist Paul Samson and drummer Thunderstick (Barry Graham) and was wearing a mask ala Slipknot, before anybody else.

Musically, they were a mix between Deep Purple, Thin Lizzy, and Led Zeppelin. Bruce was not a perfect fit for their bluesier style, but their first albums were incredible. The first album that Dickinson sang on was "Shock Tactics". It was heavy and fast, but very different if compared to Iron Maiden. The best tracks on this album were “Riding with the Angels”, “Nice Girls”, and “Grime Time.” On this albums jacket you can see him with a really crappy mustache.



The second record he did with Samson was "Head On", which followed the same formula as the previous one. Some of the best tracks on this album were “Hammerhead”, “Take It like a Man”, and the majestically Heavy tour de force “Hunted”. Samson continued on with another singer after Bruce Dickinson left the band, but were nowhere as good.

Speaking of unknowns in the "New Wave of British Heavy Metal", there is a band that very few people know of, who rule with an iron fist! We are talking about the band Satan, who were originally from Newcastle. What is with the water or beer in Newcastle when it comes to kick-ass Metal bands? Anyhow, musically they are like late 70’s Judas Priest and DiAnno era Iron Maiden. Some highlights are on their "Court in the Act", are their songs “Trial by Fire and “Broken Treaties.” After this album came out they changed their sound and name to Blind Fury, because they wanted to be on Top of the Pop charts.



There is plenty of other of albums within the "New Wave of British Heavy Metal" that must be explored by every Heavy Music fan and I am sure that more albums will come out soon. Meanwhile, here are a few videos you can sink your teeth and clinch your fists to.

Brought to you by Dr. Doom! \m/